A Father's Hand
by Laser Lance 720
Summary: Hakoda didn't know if he could trust the prince who now traveled with his children. What he did know was that the boy was nervous of him.


The sight of his son with a sword to his throat sent Hakoda reaching for his knife. The creaking steal of the Fire Nation ship under him pressed his fear as his son danced clumsily around the double blades and shifted his rusty sword to block another blow. No one on the deck moved to intervene in the fight – a few men were watching with encouragement on their lips. Hakoda took a step forward, ready to protect his son from the assault. Sokka merely chucked as his chipped sword collided between the opposing blades. He pushed back, gaining leverage for a moment before the firebender he faced muttered some remark, and slide his foot between Sokka's. The Water Tribe boy's eyes widened and he gave a shout before his feet were yanked from beneath him and he tumbled to the cold steel. His blade was held in the prince's hand.

"Unfair!" Sokka shouted. There was a smile across his lips and a hint of amusement in his voice.

The Fire Nation prince shrugged, a tight grin on his lips. "War's unfair."

"Whatever," Sokka muttered, taking the hand offered. He was pulled to his feet, swords given back to him.

Hakoda was broken from his paused and approached the two boys. "What in La's name are you boy's doing?"

Sokka and Prince Zuko both jumped, eyes training onto the chief. While Sokka relaxed upon seeing his father, Zuko only tensed further. His gaze dropped, and his shoulder's rose. Hakoda was reminded of when these children had first shown upon on the beach, hours after fleeing the now fallen Ba Sing Se. The prince had been terrified of him then, and still seemed to be so a week later.

"Zuko's teaching me how to use a sword," Sokka answered as if it were a common practice for the Prince of the Fire Nation to be training the enemy. Not the enemy, Hakoda reminded himself not for the first time.

Hakoda tightened a glare onto the prince. He stood an inch taller than Sokka, but was hunched into himself to try and appear smaller- a pose he seemed to have perfected. When he lifted his gaze to spot Hakoda's glare, he dropped in again. The chief sighted. He hadn't intend to frightened the child, but he seemed to do so each time they interacted. Hence why he hadn't spoken much to the prince.

"If you wanted to train, why didn't you say something, Son? I would gladly have taught you."

Sokka shrugged, the sword moving limply with the motion. "I know that dad. But you got enough going on. Zuko and I haven't had much to do and when we found these duel swords in the weaponry, it turns out Zuko's really good with them. Like, amazing. And he agreed to teach me. We've been at it all week-"

"-You've been doing this for a week? Why is this the first time I've heard about this?" With this question, Hakoda lifted his gaze at the men who had stopped to watch. They turned their gazes away, set whistles to their lips and went back to checking the deck.

"I apologize for not informing you Chief Hakoda." Zuko spoke, some of the only words Hakoda had gotten out of the boy. A spark seemed to set into him, but he did not allow it to shift him from his submissive mannerisms. It was unnerving seeing an enemy prince so naturally kowtowed under a harsh glare.

Not the enemy, Hakoda reminded himself.

"Well, I'm telling you now." Sokka rubbed behind his neck. "Can we get back to it, now? I'm so close to winning one of these spars."

Zuko shifted his gaze to Sokka, shifted it onto Hakoda, before looking off again. His tension was in complete contrast to how casual Sokka was about the whole thing. The Chief finally removed his finger's from the handle of his knife, allowing it to rest completely in the sheath. He hadn't realized he had still been gripping it. Giving the boys a once over, Hakoda cold only sigh. "Just be careful."

"Thanks Dad."

Hakoda stepped back, eyes trained on the pair as they set back into their training. He leaned against the far railing, watching as the prince adjusted Sokka's stance and directed his swing. Sokka nodded along, taking note of what he was told, and following through with it. They moved through a slow dance, Zuko trailing his swords through the air, and allowing Sokka to learn the blocks. It warmed his heart to see his son so easily interacting with another his age. It had been such an innocent thing the boy had been deprived of. He just wished he had made friends with someone who wasn't from the enemy nation.

"The boy's not the enemy." Bato's voice greeted from beside him. His second in command leaned against the railing, nodding towards the sparing pair.

"That's still to be determined."

Bato chuckled. "I think he's proven himself pretty well. You're kids wouldn't have vouched for him if he wasn't fully on our side. You wouldn't have let him on this ship if you didn't trust him. So what is it?"

Hakoda shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "He's a child. What turns a child against their nation? Against their own father?"

"I don't know." Bato looked at the pair of teens. "You should probably ask the boy. Either way, you need to talk to him. The kid is scared of you. All of us can see that. I'd resolve that before Sokka and Katara realize it too. They seem to adore the prince and won't be too happy with you terrorizing their new friend."

Hakoda could only agree. He watched his son sparring with the prince. They moved easily around one another like they had been friends for a lifetime. Not like a pair who grew up in warring conditions and would have been lead to kill the other just a week prior.

0

It was three days later when Hakoda next saw the boy. He kept to himself, only seeming to leave the room he'd held up in when one of the other children sought him out. He was in the mess hall now, seated between Katara and the earthbending girl. Sokka was across from him, gesturing wildly as some story was recounted between them. The Avatar was still asleep, leaving their group incomplete. Hakoda crossed the room towards them, catching the tail end of their conversation.

Zuko smirked, breaking his roll in half. "I could always chase you around deck a bit if you're feeling nostalgic."

"That's not funny," Katara rubbed a hand over her forehead. A slight smile was on her lips.

Sokka shoved a potato into his mouth. "It's not the same without the ponytail. Not as intimidating."

Katara reached out and smacked his shoulder lightly. "Don't talk with your mouth full. Can we act like proper people please?"

Sokka twirled his chopstick, "my apologies, I forgot we were in the presence of royalty here."

A shy smile graced the prince's lips. He picked up his bowl, taking a small sip of the broth. He seemed almost hesitant to speak. "Oh it's fine. I wouldn't expect a peasant to hold such manners."

Hakoda was offended for his children's sake. All the good words spoken about the prince were lost to his words. The children sitting at the table didn't take the words as an insult. If anything, they seemed amused. Sokka was chuckling slightly. Katara rolled her eyes, the smile still on her lips.

"Speak for yourself," Toph replied in a practiced snobbish tone. She put her bowl to her lips, guzzling the broth. A mess of it escaped and dripped onto her dress. She tossed the bowl back to the table.

"Spirits, Toph." Katara sighed. She pulled the liquid from the girl's dress with a quick wrist movement, before putting it back into the bowl. Toph swiped the second half of Zuko's roll and soaked up the rest of her broth. This got an eye roll both the fire and waterbender.

Sokka grinned even wider, leveling all of the amusement in his gaze onto the prince. "Not all of us can be snotty royal bastards."

Zuko returned the grin with equal mirth. It was strange, seeing the tense boy Hakoda had interacted with, entirely different around his peers. There was still a residing tension to his shoulder's, and a hesitation to his smile, but he didn't look like someone was going to beat him if he put a foot out of place. It was unnerving to be faced with the realization that the boy's fear did stem from him.

"Hey, dad." Sokka noticed his father first. The children turned to the man. Zuko's smile fell from his lips and his shoulder's returned to their tightness. Katara also lost the corner's of her smile.

Hakoda cleared his throat, leveling his gaze onto the prince. "May I borrow you for a few moments. There's a few things I want to pick your brain about."

He only hesitated for a moment, before nodding slowly. Zuko started to rise. Katara did so too, staking his empty bowl into hers. "I'm going to see about giving Aang another healing session."

She left, not bothering to offer her father a word. Hakoda sighed, not knowing what was going on with his daughter. It was difficult trying to console the image of the twelve year old daughter he had left at home with the young women the war had shaped her into.

Motioning for the prince to follow him, Hakoda set his mind to dealing with one issue at a time. The pair moved in silence, Zuko staying just three steps behind him. They found themselves in the captains quarters, Hakoda motioning for the boy to enter. Following behind him, the heavy steel door closed, shutting the pair off from the rest of the ship.

"I apologize for any offense I have given," Zuko spoke quickly. He kept a distance of a few feet between them. His eyes darted to the heavy door, refusing to look the older man in the eyes. Hakoda pressed his hand against the desk, training his attention to the lad.

"I don't know much about your country's ways," Hakoda spoke softly, "but in the Water Tribe refusing to meet another man's eyes is an extreme act of disrespect."

Zuko's breath seemed to catch in his throat as he forced himself to locked his golden gaze onto the older man. "My apologies, Chief Hakoda. I did not mean any disrespect. I did not know."

The boy was terrified. It was clear as day. Hakoda reached a hand towards him."I'm not going to hurt you, son."

That seemed the wrong phrase for it triggered something within the teen. His already tense demeanor was completely locked up. He flinched, preparing for a strike Hakoda would never have landed. It clicked with Hakoda.

"Zuko, look at me." Hakoda moved slowly, placing both hands on the boy's shoulders. He could feel his slight shaking. It took only a second for Zuko's terrified gaze to meet Hakoda's. "I am not going to hurt you. I will not put my hands on you. That's not something you have to fear from me."

"I don't." It was an obvious lie.

"Did your father ever put his hands on you?"

Zuko stepped back quickly. His back was pressed against the wall. He looked so young. "Why would you ask that?"

"A father's intuition."

Despite the obvious trepidation coursing through him, the boy kept his shoulders solid. He was doing his best to hide the true level of fear that had overtaken him. To an unobservant eye, they might have overlooked that fear.

"I don't know what your insinuating..." Zuko spoke quickly. He trailed off, unable to form any further words. He glanced at the door, never taking his gaze fully off Hakoda.

Running a hand through his coarse hair, Hakoda tried to not look too intimidating to the boy. He had taken him into the ship to try and keep the conversation a bit more private, but it had proved to only frighten the child further.

Hakoda started to speak but was cut off when shouting tore through the hall. He feared for a moment that there was an attack upon them. Throwing the door open, he was surprised to see the Avatar tearing his way through the ship halls. Glancing back towards the prince, Hakoda was startled to find that Zuko had slipped out and into the hall.

A heavy sigh escaped him as he moved up deck to deal with the new situation. With the Avatar awake and the following Fire Navy assault, Hakoda had been too distracted to speak to the prince again. He left the next day with the rest of the children.

O


End file.
